We came to know Tayler Ayers in a roundabout way.
My wife and I bought our home almost three years ago. Since then, we have been making it our own. We have renovated a few rooms, painted everything, hardwood floored everywhere, and kept Scott Antique Market in business. We’re refining our taste in art. I’ve always been drawn to Rothko and the large Audubon prints, and Mrs. RCS is more specific and is really into Brian Coleman, Evelyn Drouot Wassman, Annie King, Catherine B Jones, and Sally King Benedict. While we’ll never have a Rothki, and the Audubon prints don’t match the look we are shooting for, we are buying pieces that we both agree on. I like buying art. Coggins talked about it in his book. It feels like we have a story on the wall.
A dear friend of ours over in Charleston posted a picture on Instagram of a piece that he had just acquired from an up and coming artist at SCAD. Mrs. RCS sent me the picture with the caption ‘dining room’.
The Instagram post that started it all…
This is important, because our dining room has been largely blank since we moved in. We’ve been waiting to find the right piece. We got Tayler’s contact info from our friend, and Mrs. RCS immediately reached out.
The long and short of it: we settled on a size and a price, and gave him a little direction as to what we were looking for. We were clear that we wanted him to be the artist, and not just paint a recipe from us. A few weeks later, Tayler came over to help install the piece:
It’s hard to express how happy we are with this piece. Abstract-ish art seems to be everywhere, but we wanted something a little different. To me, our ‘One Liner’ evokes a feeling every time I see it. It’s a little mod, a little graffiti, but it has so much soul. Maybe it’s because it rounds out our house full of Keils, Raneys and Benedicts, but mostly it’s because of the artist. We spent quite a bit of time with Tayler on the phone and then at the house during the installation, and he is so refreshing. Legitimately one of the coolest cats we’ve met. We are lucky to call him a friend.
We talked art, we talked about Georgia, we talked about all of our mutual friends, music, and his badass Rolex GMT (and the beauty of Zulu straps). He’s the type of dude I want HJS to meet and learn from. At the risk of being corny, here is an interview we decided to do, along with a bunch of his art:
Tell me a little about yourself.
Yeah man, so I am from the West Georgia area. Carrollton, Ga to be specific. Technically born in Newnan, Ga. Adopted by my parents and grew up mainly in Atlanta and a little in Carrollton. I grew up playing tennis and was training to go professional. Played a year of college tennis and decided it was time to retire haha. What do I do? Sheeeeesh man. Uh. I draw, do yoga, read books, paint, graffiti here and there, hang with my cats. Just recently ended a two month sports marketing internship in Atlanta (Buckhead), actually.
What got you into art?
I’m super blessed because my parents always put me in “art” related summer camps, schools that supported the arts. I went to a Montessori school when I was a little kid so if you know anything about that type of school style then you know that it is VERY unorthodox and pushes students to express themselves and explore who they are. All throughout my life I’ve always technically drawn stuff, or made clay sculptures or whatever. That type of stuff. The big “art” moment happened when I discovered Jean Michel Basquiat about 5 years ago and the rest is history.
Who are your inspirations?
My mom is my biggest, Steve Jobs, Black Flag, Basquiat, Mark Rothko, HUGE JOHN MAYER FAN. HUGGGEEE, uh Duane Allman, people who emit love selflessly. I love seeing that.
Art tells a story. What story are you telling?
Truth be told, I don’t even think I’m all that artistic. I don’t really have an artist statement, but I do believe in a narrative. My story? No matter your age, your income, gender, religion, etc, we are all figuring life out as we go. There is a lot of darkness in the world and plain and simple I just want people to know that they are loved. They are worth it. I’m not a rocket scientist but I’m a firm believer in saying hello to everyone and anyone, loving strangers as we would our children/parents and being nice. No one gets out of this world alive but you better believe that my time spent on this world will be filled and fueled by selflessly loving others. I live by this ethos…You only get a certain amount of real estate in your heart, make sure to fill it with the right stuff.
What art knocks your socks off?
Anything that makes me super uncomfortable, gets extreme mixed reactions from crowds and anything PAINFULLY honest.
What is your favorite medium?
Give me a pen and a stack of white printer paper and I’ll be happy.
What do you like to do?
Okay so haha. I’m SUPER big into the niche sections of youtube. Super super niche. My friends mock me because I have an extensive knowledge based on “Youtube Culture”. I’m talking about those super super super super hard to find videos that you have to go through about 2 hours of the videos jus to get to. I LOVE Hot Yoga. Love my cats. Love to read. big fan of traveling. Super into raw denim and Japanese design/style. Big fan of walks and going on runs and running red lights on my bike when I’m in Savannah. Hanging on porches with friends. Listening to super inappropriate rap then changing it to the Allman Brothers or Arctic Monkeys. OH AND I LOVVVVVEE making anyone laugh. Nothing brings me greater joy than that.
What are your hobbies?
Dang I thought I answered these above lol. Hmm lets see. I enjoy consuming way too much kombucha uhh I’m always game for 1am existential conversation about God, politics, the mortality of humans, death or anything that most people find uncomfortable to discuss.
What’s on your Spotify playlist?
C’mon nowwww man…Steve Jobs? I’m an apple music guy. Everything from Hillsong United Worship Music, new Drake album, old Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala, Kanye, found this new country artist named Luke Combs, so I have been listening to his new album non stop recently, HAIM, 1975, Remastered Black Flag albums and of course….old Lil Wayne. That dude basically ended racial tensions for about 8 years.
It’s hard not to like this guy. Knowing the artist and where he’s coming from makes our piece that much more special. We’ll end up framing ours with a thin black frame. We’re beyond excited with what we’ve got so far, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see another Ayers piece on our wall in the near future.
You can follow Tayler and his adventures on Instagram. Tell him I said hello…
Finally got around to reading this post, and am glad I did. Definitely adding him to my instagram and look forward to seeing more of his art. I hope you’ll continue to post more about artists that interest you in Atlanta and the South.